Singles - First Round: R Haase def. (11) J Monaco 7-5
0-6 2-3, retired (right ankle)
The big story on this day seemed to be of players coming
in from small events and then losing at the big one. Not
the smartest strategy; Juan Monaco will not rise above
his current #14 and may well fall.

Singles - First Round: (12) K Nishikori def. A Ramos 6-2
7-5
Albert Ramos has been playing very well, and he likes
clay -- but he came here tired. That may be why this
wasn't closer. The loss means no Top Forty spot for
Ramos; indeed, it appears he will fall a spot or two.

Singles - First Round: S Wawrinka def. (10) F Lopez 6-1
6-4
Feliciano Lopez really faced two opponents here:
Stanislas Wawrinka, who is tough enough on clay, and jet
lag. Little wonder he was so far off! He isn't likely to
fall in the rankings (he has a lead of hundreds of
points over the next active players), but he loses any
chance of regaining his Top Fifteen spot.

Singles - First Round: (Q) M Kukushkin def. (14) F Mayer
3-6 6-1 6-3
Florian Mayer has seemed pretty fragile this year. We
have to suspect he broke down again -- although he did
win in doubles. In all likelihood he will lose his Top
Twenty ranking.

Singles - First Round: A Seppi def. (Q) V Hanescu 6-3
6-1
This isn't enough points to count for Andreas Seppi, but
one more win would take him very close to the Top Forty.

Singles - First Round: T Bellucci def. K Anderson 6-4
6-4
This is a mild upset based on rankings, but probably not
based on surfaces. It means no Top Thirty ranking for
Kevin Anderson, though.

Singles - First Round: (Q) F Gil def. M Youzhny 6-1 6-3
Good news for Frederico Gil, whose ranking just took a
big hit. Mikhail Youzhny doesn't lose any points, but it
still appears he will fall a little, simply because a
lot of players are adding points.

Singles - First Round: (WC) P Starace def. C Berlocq
4-2, retired (left calf)
Carlos Berlocq seems to be paying for his success
earlier this year. At least he should stay Top Forty.

Singles - First Round: F Volandri def. (Q) A Giannessi
7-5 6-3
Alessandro Giannessi has now lost his opener at his last
two ATP events. And he only has three events in all!

Singles - First Round: P Andujar def. (Q) F Delbonis 3-6
6-4 6-2
Pablo Andujar just keeps winning -- he's the exception
to the rule about last week's players struggling here.
He hasn't moved much yet (maybe one ranking spot), but
any additional wins could take him a lot higher.

Singles - First Round: M Cilic def. (Q) S Bolelli 6-3
6-4
More evidence of progress for Marin Cilic, but he needs
a semifinal to get back to the Top Twenty.

Singles - Second Round: (3) A Murray def. V Troicki 6-0
6-3
If Andy Murray can keep this up, he actually will have a
chance to overtake Rafael Nadal this spring. Not this
week, though. There is a slight chance that this will
cost Viktor Troicki his Top Thirty ranking, although all
the biggest threats to him have already lost.

Singles - Second Round: (13) F Verdasco def. I Dodig 6-2
6-4
Ivan Dodig was defending Barcelona semifinalist points,
so this will probably drop him to around #80.

Doubles - First Round: Murray/Murray def. S Gonzalez/Kas
6-4 6-3
It is rather amazing how many top singles players are in
the doubles here. Tuesday alone, we saw five Top 25
players: Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco,
Florian Mayer, and Alexander Dolgopolov. The results
were rather mixed; three won, two lost.

Doubles - First Round: Mayer/Melzer def. (WC) Clement/Lisnard
7-5 6-4

Doubles - First Round: Granollers/M Lopez def. Qureshi/Rojer
6-4 6-4

Doubles - First Round: Marach/Peya def. Butorac/Soares
6-2 3-6 12-10
We had some pretty strong unseeded teams here. Too bad
so many of them faced other strong unseeded teams, as in
this match.